


in the afternoon sunlight

by ThatOneWeirdo



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-25
Updated: 2014-07-25
Packaged: 2018-02-10 08:16:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2017689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneWeirdo/pseuds/ThatOneWeirdo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>one day, natsume notices tanuma's hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in the afternoon sunlight

one day, while they’re together doing homework, natsume notices tanuma’s hands. he’s been noticing tanuma since forever, probably, but recently he’s been noticing tanuma a little differently. ever since the mess with omibashira he’s been looking at tanuma as something — more. tanuma has always been precious, always, but it is only recently that natsume has looked at tanuma and seen someone so important that natsume can’t find the words to describe him.

so it’s not like he hasn’t looked at tanuma’s hands before. he’s noticed them before, their general shape, and the way tanuma would use them, moving them through the air to demonstrate a point he’s making. he’s paid attention to the length of tanuma’s fingers and the mole on the side of tanuma’s left hand. he’s seen tanuma’s hands before, just like he’s seen tanuma’s hair and tanuma’s eyes and tanuma’s soft, quiet smile.

but he’s never seen tanuma’s hands like this: not bathed in the soft warm light of near-sunset, one cradling his chin delicately and the other spinning a pen with minimal elegant movements. he’s never noticed the fine veins that trace their way down tanuma’s hands and past his wrist. he’s never stopped to look at the lines on tanuma’s palms. they take natsume’s breath away.

tanuma notices. tanuma’s always been good at noticing natsume, even when natsume might not necessarily want him to. “something wrong?” he says, the pen coming to a halt in his hands. it cuts a dark shadow over the mole on tanuma’s hand and for the first time, natsume notices a second, smaller mark, just underneath.

it takes him a moment to tear his eyes away from the sight, and he feels heat creep across his face as he does, embarrassed to be caught staring. “sorry, i was just spacing out,” he says, glancing down at his own work. he feels tanuma’s eyes on him but steadfastly does not look up.

“alright, then,” tanuma says, mild, and maybe a little awkward. he doesn’t push, though, and when natsume finally finds the courage to raise his head, tanuma’s eyes are already down on his papers. natsume looks at him, then: looks at the way his eyelashes seem to glow in the light, looks at the way his hair falls in front of his eyes, looks at his hands, and a dam breaks inside natsume’s heart. it’s the strangest, warmest feeling: natsume thinks, for a moment, he is drowning. if this moment was the last moment of natsume’s life, if this sensation was the last thing natsume ever felt, he would be happy. this — tanuma, next to him, in the late afternoon sun — is all he needs.

“are you sure you’re alright?” tanuma asks, lifting his head to meet natsume’s eyes. this time, though, natsume doesn’t look down. this time, he meets tanuma’s eyes, and smiles.

“i’m just fine.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is the fluffiest thing i have ever published??? i hope you enjoyed the tooth-rotting sweetness somehow.


End file.
